I click on "threads" once a day to see if there is anything I should reply to.

You can get an RSS feed of replies to a particular user (you!) here: https://hnrss.github.io/

Then you can check your RSS feeds for new "articles" in that feed (new replies to your comments).

That's better than checking your threads because you'll only see replies that are new since the last time you checked.

So it ends up being similar to an email workflow.

I just click on https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=mindcrime a few times a day and scroll to the end of the first page. If there's anything interesting going on, I reply. Anything old enough to have fallen off the first page I deem irrelevant and never check any further.

I don‘t. I read through most or all of a thread, make a comment, completely forget about it, and never return. I find it kind of freeing actually, especially because HN comments tend to be fairly thoughtful and complete. There‘s rarely the kind of short quips, snarky comments, or tit-for-tat back and forth that drives most social media discussion. It‘s like the old school forums (and I never checked back on my comments there either).